After that, he had visited Madurai multiple times and the last was in 1946 when the train he travelled in, crossed Chinnalapatti and the people of Chinnalapatti and neighbouring villages, surrounded the train and stopped it just to see Gandhiji. This very site is located just around Gandhigram.

Today, Gandhigram is a rural university and Dr.Soundram Trust does dedicated work for the welfare and health of the people around this region. People are trained in Khadi and other Village industries. There is a Khadi Bhavan here which, not only sells the clothes hand-spun and hand-woven by the people of this region, but also grains, food, soaps etc made by in the village industries by the locals! Buying anything here is for the noble cause of supporting the handmade village products in this era of mass produced goods!

A walk in this premises takes you to a very different feel! Talking to the people here, tells you what simple village life is like, the one for which Gandhiji gave up his shirt! While talking about handmade goods, a short walk from MaduraiMeenakshi Amman temple, closer to Koodalazhagar Temple, is Madurai Kalaiyagam.

Being a temple, several festivals and celebrations happen at Madurai Meenakshi Amman temple. During the celebrations, the temple chariots and the palanquins are covered with fabric that’s appliquéd with multitude of colors, motifs and embellishments.

This appliqué work is done currently by only 7 craftsmen families in Madurai. The master craftsman at Madurai Kalaiyagam is Mr.Sundaravadivelan. He is the 6th generation of the craft practitioners in his family.